§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Employment what further steps he is taking to improve employment prospects for school leavers in Kirkby.
§ Mr. GoldingI will reply to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is the total number of school leavers currently unemployed: (a) on Merseyside, (b) in Kirkby and (c) in Ormskirk;
(2) how many school leavers who left school in summer 1976 are still unemployed: (a) on Merseyside, (b) in Kirkby and (c) in Ormskirk.
§ Mr. GoldingI regret that due to industrial action complete statistics of the unemployed have not been collected since October. However, the majority of school-leavers register with the Careers Service provided by local education authorities and on 9th December 1976 the number registered at careers offices was (a) 5,227 on Merseyside, (b) 583 in Kirkby and (c) 13 in Ormskirk.
The statistics do not identify the date of leaving school, but the great majority of those unemployed in December were 1976 summer term leavers.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of employment prospects on Merseyside, in Kirkby and in Ormskirk for the next 12 months.
§ Mr. GoldingI regret that it is not possible for my Department to make any meaningful estimate of future employment prospects in Merseyside, in Kirkby or in Ormskirk, as these are likely to depend to a considerable extent on the way in which the general economic situation develops.
These areas have benefited from the special measures we have introduced to alleviate unemployment, and the Government will continue to do everything possible to improve employment prospects there.
217WEven when the economy generally picks up there will still be a long way to go towards solving the long-term structural employment problems of these areas.